I think if you are concerned about cold operation use a heater to preheat the engine. Sometimes I even preheat the interior with a small electric heater.

It takes me a little time to put on my seat belt on, back out of my driveway, etc., but an extended warm up doesn't help.

I think as long as you keep engine RPM low, maybe below 2000, the engine can't tell if you are creeping along in drive or just sitting, but it will warm up quicker with a touch of throttle and rolling 30 - 40 mph.

Depends upon how much ice is on the car, and temp. 20F and up, I don't mind driving off after maybe 10 seconds--you know, get in, start, buckle and adjust stuff, then drive. I might do that at 10F or even 0F, although at 0F I'm usually running back inside to warm up... And the idle is usually kinda rough, clutch stiff, etc.

But even at -10F I don't think I've ever let it go past 10min to "warm up". I don't think it needs more than 2-3 really. More for my comfort.

Now, getting ice to melt is a different issue. After Christmas I had to let the truck idle for about 20min. It had been parked for a couple weeks, and there was a nasty ridge of ice above the wipers. You know the sort, where it won't scrape off w/o hammering. I think it was during the polar whatever also, so it was stupid cold. Normally I don't need to warm up a vehicle to get ice off, but once in a while it's just really really stuck on, and a bit of heat seems best.

What I hate is when the windshield gets scraped off, and then freezes back up once you take off down the road, as there isn't any heat coming out of the defroster yet. That's annoying.

I let my car warm up for 10-15 mins when it's extremely cold, 5-10 mins when below freezing...I know some say it's not good for the vehicle to let it warm up for that long, but I routinely get 200K-300K miles out of my vehicles, so I'm guessing it can't be doing too much damage...besides, who likes riding in a cold vehicle and having to scrape windows?

-26C (-15F) here this morning. I'm car pooling this week so the Charger is still frozen but I plugged the G6 in before I left.I will get about 2 hours before the wife leaves. To me that's better than the remote start for 10 minutes.

Once it's below freezing my typical routine is to start it and clean it off before I leave. Haven't really let the cars run just to get heat since the kids were little.

If its -15c or warmer I don't even warm it up. I get in,start it,light a smoke,roll down the window a crack and drive. I've got 15kms of side roads that are too rough to drive any faster than 80km/hr-50mph so the engine gets driven very easily til I hit the highway. By the time I've hit the highway junction the oil temp is 160+F so I accelerate quickly to 110km/hr-70mph and cruise to the city. In temps colder than -15c I'll let it warm up a bit,if its -30 I let it warm up til its blowing hot air. -30 is darn cold. I pay for the fuel,maintenance and everything else on the vehicle so I couldn't care less what the bitog police think. My vehicles are an appliance and built to serve me. It's just that simple. Try turning the wheel at -30 in a cold car. The tires are frozen slightly out of round and it takes a mile or 2 for the thumping to stop. If it isn't -15 and warmer then minimal warm up is required. Don't rev past 2000rpm til oil temp is at 160F and drive sensibly. At -30 your breath with frost up the windows in minutes,and that's not safe. Visibility is important so if it means warming up my car to attain clear windows then so be it. And my comfort is of the utmost importance to me. Why would I want to suffer being cold when my appliance can provide heat.

Hmm. Wife leaves her 2005 Legacy/165k idling about 5 mins in the morning to make sure defrost working and car warm. At work she gets on highway within 1 min out of parking lot (no warm up) and is going 70-80mph.

Oh man, The cold start is where a modern engine with modern oil in it shines. It is so easy to start. 4F and I start the Transit van without touching the pedal. I set the heater on defrost and went back in to pack my lunch and coffee. 10 minutes later I'm back out and the crusted ice on the windshield is slush. The mouse fur upholstery is way better on my posterior than vinyl or leather too. So I hit the road with warm car that I can see out of. If the windshield is clear, I'm idling down the driveway in a cold car. The sooner the car warms up, the sooner I will.

I just don't like the idea of engaging a clutch or shifting a transmission into D or R when a cold engine is racing. I wait for the tack to idle down to 1,000 rpms and then go. That seems to have worked well for me since I started driving in the 70's. But then again I don't live where it gets to -30°F or colder either.